LOTTERY HONOURS POW HEROES 66 YEARS ON FROM VJ-DAY
SIXTY-SIX years after the Japanese surrender that brought an end to the Second World War, the Big Lottery Fund is awarding grants to veterans across the UK to return to the places they served their country.
On 15th August 1945, the Japanese surrender to the allies brought a final end to fighting that had cost close to 450,000 British lives and seen the incarceration of over 55,000 British Prisoners of War. In the months that followed thousands of British Servicemen eventually came home from the horrors of the Japanese labour camps.
Reflecting the nation’s debt to the British Armed Forces veterans of WW2 on this historic day , the Big Lottery Fund sees to date awards totalling over £8.3 million made to 12,245 Second World War veterans, widows, spouses and carers across the UK made under its Heroes Return 2 programme.
Today, BIG is urging veterans who have not yet been able to travel on a Heroes Return 2 grant to apply now for funding before the scheme closes in January 2012, with the deadline for trips now extended to December 2012.
Peter Wanless, Big Lottery Fund Chief Executive, said: “This historical landmark is a poignant reminder for us all of the huge debt of gratitude and recognition of the sacrifice made by hundreds of thousands of British servicemen and women during the Second World War. They built the peace and protected the freedoms we enjoy today.
“It is important that veterans from across the country who have not yet applied for a grant are aware that the Lottery’s Heroes Return programme is still open for applications. I’m delighted that we can continue to offer this support and I urge them to apply now for a commemorative trip in 2011/12 to revisit the places they served.”
Amongst those receiving an award are the Java Far East Prisoners of War Club (FEPOW) 1942 with a £21,000 grant to make a poignant return to the Moluccas Islands of Ambon and Haruku in Indonesia.
Transported to the islands by boats, known as ‘hell ships’ due the horrendous conditions on board, the Java PoW’s were set to work building airfields with ‘chunkels’ (wide hoes) used to chip away at the coral which was then hauled in baskets slung on poles. Only a third returned from these camps, as the death rate was one of the highest with the prisoners suffering constant maltreatment, beatings, starvation and illnesses.
RAF Aircraftman William Mundy from Dartford, Kent was 20 years old when he sailed from Gourock in Scotland on 3rd December 1941, on the City of Canterbury, bound for Kuala Lumpur. But as the Japanese made rapid advances through Malaya, William was re-routed to Batavia, (now Jakarta).
However, RAF operational life on the island of Java would prove to be short lived as William and his comrades were taken prisoner by the Japanese in Garoet, after the Dutch forces capitulated. Sent to Boei Glodok prison in February 1942, William then spent 1943-1944 incarcerated on Java, after which he was taken to Ambon, and then back to Java for another six weeks.
He recalls; “We had to make a two days march from Ambon harbour to Liang, where we built an airstrip. On route to Liang is a Christian village, Waai. The villagers there took great risks, when we were working on the road through the village, to pass titbits under the walls of the hut to us.”
“No matter where I was in prison, the diet was the same; breakfast pint of steamed rice and spoonful of sugar, mid day three quarters of a pint steamed rice and "green" water and in the evening one pint of steamed rice and the "greens" that had been cooked in the mid-day water. Only those who were working were allocated food, so we needed to share ours with those in hospital or otherwise sick.”
After the Japanese surrender, William returned to the UK via Colombo, Suez and Liverpool on a Dutch boat in October 1945.
William, now aged 90, said: “I think most people would ask why on earth I would want to go back to where I had such a traumatic experience. There are the war graves, where some of the 775 out of the 1,000 who didn't survive are buried, and I would appreciate the opportunity to reflect on their sacrifice. I also especially want to visit the grave of a close colleague, Eric Suter, who was one of the last to die before Ambon was evacuated.”
William, who will travel with the Java FEPOW veterans group next year, plans to take plenty of photographs as a record of his experiences. He said: “I would like these to be able to give my children and grandchildren the knowledge of what happened.”
More information and details of how to apply for a Heroes Return 2 grant are available by calling 0845 00 00 121 or visiting www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/heroesreturn
BIG is continuing its support for UK veterans through its new £35 million Forces in Mind initiative to establish an independent trust to provide long term support and advocacy for former service personnel. The funding will help veterans who served in conflicts including Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gulf War struggling with the transition to civilian life, especially those whose psychological well-being subsequently impacts on the quality of their life and others around them.
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